Peerla Panduga

Peerla Pandugu
Observed by	Muslims across Telangana

Peerla Panduga is a mourning festival celebrated by Muslims in the Telangana State to remember the battle of Karbala & in Rayala Seema region of Andhra Pradesh, India.^[1] It is a mourned (remembrance) across the Sufi shrines called as Ashurkhana. A procession of the relic, called as Alam is taken out as a part of Muharram.^[2] There may be multiple relics donated by various members of the procession. Some villages in Telangana have relics that have been donated through generation by the members of the same family (Nasarla Palle, Telangana).

Traditionally for many centuries, the Sunni Islamic scholars who are called as "Islamic peer" would encourage their followers to organise programmes in remembrance of the martyrdom of Imam Hussain and his family members and friends and offer Salah and recite Qur'an and Hadith of the prophet Muhammad ﷺ about the Ahl al-Bayt and mourn in silence shed tears by remembering them (without self-flagellation) the day in which yazeed ibn muawiya happened to kill Imam hussain (Grandson of Prophet ﷺ).

On this day the Shia (traitors of the Imam Hussain) mourn the martyrdom of him by self flagellation.

In Hyderabad and in Telangana over the past few decades is celebrated a festival called as "PEERLA PANDAGA" wherein the Sunni conducts programmes in remembrance of Imam hussain and the Shia self flagellates their body through out the month of muharram and exclusively to bleed on Ashura.

The Peerla Pandaga was later misquoted by successive Congress & secular regimes as a festival of religious Hindu-muslim harmony.

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